Linda Johnson

This lesson will begin with background information on Dr. Margaret Walker Alexander and Phillis Wheatley.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

· learn how to work in groups

· interpret and act out lines from the poem

· understand freedom and slavery

· analyze the writing of Dr. Walker

Activity

1. Distribute the poem “Phillis Wheatley: by Dr. Margaret Walker Alexander.

2. Students are to look up the meaning of any unknown words in the poem and write down the correct meaning to their usage in the poem.

3. To begin, students will take turns reading lines aloud in class from Dr. Walker poem Phillis Wheatley.

4. After the first reading, the class will break up into groups of four. Each group will be given the task of creating a scene to act in front of the class. Although, at this point, students will be a little confused by the passage, it will be up to each group to decide how they will cast and interpret the lines. The groups will have 30 minutes to work their parts.

5. Next, each group will act out/read their interpretation of the passage in front of the class. Students will discuss the different interpretations of the text and the choices they made.

6. Students will be asked to enter journal entries on an online discussion group.

7. Students will post their entries on the online discussion group in the voice of their character as a reaction to the events. They will react to the readings, and will hopefully acquire a better understanding of their character, as well as the other characters. Students will be expected to read and react to the classmates’ online entries.

8. Students will be asked to do a timeline on the life of Phillis Wheatley.

9. Students will create a web word to describe/draw a representation of Phillis.

Materials

Copies of poem

Drawing paper

Assessment

Students will write a short essay about how this poem made them feel in regard to slavery and freedom.